Adrian Fortescue; A Memoir
London: Burns, Oates & Washbourne, 1924. First edition. Tall octavo (10 inches tall), original black cloth, gilt spine and front board, top edge gilt, uncut, original printed dust wrapper. Bookplate, book nearly-fine, wrapper with toning to the spine, minor foxing on the front panel, moderate foxing on the back panel. A near-fine copy. Item #303
FORTE SCUTUM SALUS DUCUM: "A STRONG SHIELD IS THE SALVATION OF LEADERS"
First edition of this two-part Life of Adrian Fortescue—"the greatest authority on the liturgy of the Roman Rite the English-speaking world has ever known" (Michael Davies)—and the founder of The Church of St. Hugh of Lincoln in Letchworth. Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Fortescue (by Mrs. M.D. Spooner), along with a second, photographic, portrait and six other plates, all protected by captioned tissue-guards. Quite uncommon, the only copy I have ever encountered complete in the original printed dust wrapper, ornamented on both front and back panels. A splendid copy of a beautiful book.
Descended from Blessed Adrian Fortescue, the Martyr beheaded at the Tower of London in July 1539, Fortescue had Recusant roots. Ordained three years after his ancestor was beatified by Leo XIII in 1895, the versatile Fortescue embarked on a brilliant career, writing extensively on the Eastern churches and the Roman liturgy, before his untimely death in 1923. The work consists of two parts, a series of brief biographical sketches by the Rev. John Vance, followed by a Personal Memoir by J.W. Fortescue (Father Fortescue's nephew). The text is supplemented by two appendices: Appendix I. Some Biographical Dates and Facts, and Appendix II. Adrian Fortescue's Literary Work. Beautifully designed in consultation with Stanley Morison and printed by Walter Lewis, university printer at Cambridge University. With the Rev. Dr. Vance's Prefatory Note, dated "St. Edmund's, Old Hall / February 4, 1924."
Price: $250.00